Heart issue killed Ga. football player, not heat, according to autopsy

MACON, Ga. (AP) — An autopsy found that a 15-year-old Georgia high school football player died from an “abnormal heart rhythm” and not heat-related illness.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones says an autopsy by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found Joshua Ivory Jr. died July 26 of cardiac dysrhythmia which triggered “sudden cardiac arrest.”

The 15-year-old collapsed on the first day of fall football practice at Macon’s Southwest High School.

Ivory died in a hospital emergency room.

The district says it took extra precautions to avoid heat illness beyond what Georgia rules require.

A coach was placed on leave but quickly reinstated.